Simone H Collins
Bio
Working in sync with my SO Malcolm Collins, I operate a number of companies, invest in startups, regularly lecture on the topic of management techniques (including at Stanford GSB, Harvard, and Carnegie Mellon), and am a bestselling author (on Kindle).
The lion's share of my focus is on the Collins Institute for Gifted Youth, which is working on a new model of at-home or boarding education optimized for self-motivated students who thrive when given freedom. It applies a PhD-level attitude toward knowledge acquisition to K-12 education through a first-principles approach.
Other orgs I operate and have operated include: A hybrid corporate travel management company and wholesaler with offices in Philadelphia and Lima, Peru that specializes in entertainment and production travel; ArtCorgi.com (a 500 Startups-funded art marketplace I co-founded); and the Pragmatist Foundation (a non-profit dedicated to helping the world think more pragmatically).
How others can help me
I'm keen to speak with anyone passionate about education, culture, governance, and education reform.
How I can help others
If you need random/obscure sniff tests on things related to the following, consider me happy to help:
- Search funds
- The travel industry (entertainment & production travel, corporate travel management, wholesale, airlines, etc.)
- Managing teams across continents, time zones, and cultures
- Working with your spouse
- ARGs
Posts 1
Comments8
While AI could be a deus ex machina here, we don't think that handwaiving the problem away with an "AI can fix it" will do.
I mean, we could say that about pretty much anything—from climate change to (and seriously) existential AGI risks.
Voluntary immigration has been a boon—we do not deny it, and we also quite appreciate immigration. Where we draw the line is in leaning on it like a crutch in a way that may lead to exploitation.
This post is our best attempt to highlight the hazards of an uncontrolled landing on demographic collapse, which range from major economic issues to crumbling infrastructure and the loss of various cultures/worldviews/ethnicities. Hoped that was clear.
I worry that EA is becoming overly focused on performative progressivism (in which no feelings can be hurt) and not genuine progressivism. The opportunity we cited was one for the community to re-focus on genuinely impactful issues, even if they involve less virtue signaling.
I feel like you're not reading this in good faith, or perhaps you just skimmed it (re: "I don't plan to engage deeply with this post").
To your concerns:
1. *Genetic determinism:* We're simply pointing out traits are heritable and humanity benefits from a future in which a diverse array of traits exists.
2. *Homophobia:* We think a future humanity that supports LGBT rights is more prosocial and a hard landing on demographic collapse isn't likely to produce a society that supports LGBT rights.
3. *Ethnonationalism:* We are arguing about the importance of demographic collapse as a cause area in the hopes that humanity's long-term future enjoys a diverse array of ethnicities, cultures, races, mindsets, lifestyles, etc. Is the issue that you do not recognize this or that you don't share that hope for the future?
We are not genetic determinists. We also don't ignore that heritable traits can have influence. We think the evidence speaks for itself with regard to the amplitude of the effects on society.
We aren't working to ensure "the right" people have kids; we're working to ensure that cultures, ethnicities, etc. don't go extinct. We want to preserve plurality and diversity. If concerted action is not taken, we're positioned to lose a TON of diversity.
Very interesting. Is it not then a culture issue in that many people who could have more living space (especially with the rise of remote work) choose not to for cultural reasons (because it's higher status and more glamorous to live in an expensive city)?